A Prayer for Life
by UNCPanda
Summary: A series of in order one- shots based off of my chapter 15 one-shot in 80 Day Challenge. It's a SakumoXSakura story.
1. Plans

Sakumo had stumbled across her on the way back from a mission. Literally stumbled across her, face first on to the ground, he was only glad that it had been a solo mission and she had been unconscious or else he might not have lived it down. She had just been laying there, her pink her cut short, cuts littering her body, matched only by the bruises near them. He had considered the thought that it was a trap, especially when he saw the Konoha headband clenched in her fist; after all he would have remembered someone with pink hair. He had been ready to leave her there when he heard some mumbled words come out of her mouth, which he quickly realized was a prayer, before she fell back into unconsciousness. He had stared at her for a while after that, considering bringing her back to the village; it went against his better judgment and Konoha's White Fang didn't make bad judgment calls he did what he had to too protect his village, but when he turned her chin to look at her face a small piece of his heart fluttered and he went against his better judgment. He picked the small, thin, pink haired girl up in his arms and taken her back to Konoha with him.

He had deposited her in the office of the Third, who had quickly called for a medical team followed up by a team from the T &I department. Sakumo had simply left, knowing that he had saved the girls life and carried on. He didn't see her for months after that, and she slowly drifted out of his mind until he was assigned a mission to Suna and she was assigned to his team. He had stopped when he saw her, her body had fleshed out after what he supposed were more than a few good meals, her hair was longer and pulled back in a stubby pony tail, long gone were the cuts and bruises, and on the top of her head was the same forehead protector she had been clutching on the day he had found her. She introduced herself as Sakura.

The mission wasn't easy; it called for stopping two of Suna's best puppeteers, a married couple with the husband being the son of one of Suna's best medics, Chiyo. Sakumo had planned for the mission very carefully, making sure everything was accounted for, well almost. He had worked with every member of his team before with the exception of the pinkette, and he had no idea how she operated or how good of a Kuoichi she was and that worried him. He liked knowing what was going to happen and he loved his plans.

To his ever grateful surprise the mission was carried out with all the rigorous planning Sakumo had so thoroughly gone through. So when the Pinkette, a woman whose life he had saved and who was his subordinate, threatened to castrate him if he killed the two Suna puppeteers who were unconscious in front of him, he couldn't help but be a bit dumb founded. So much so, that when she knocked them out and injected them with something that would seal their chakra until she gave them the antidote, he was more than a little impressed with her moxy. Of course he couldn't just let her get away with insubordination so he made her carry the two unconscious Suna nin back to Konoha by herself. So when she had simply lifted them over her shoulders with barely any effort and given him a saccharine smile he had just glared. When she dropped them in front of the Third Hokage and he simply smiled and nodded in approval, Sakumo was more than a little dumbfounded and more than a little intrigued. So much so that when they got through with their reports and had handed the two nin over to the T & I department he asked her out on a date.

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><p>Well howdy there! For those of you new here this story is going to be based off of a one shot I did during my 80 day challenge back in late 2012 and early 2013, I believe it was chapter 15. This first chapter was expanded from a continuation of the prompt in my new 80 Day Challenge: Take 2 and is chapter 5. One real quick noted difference, this chapter has been fleshed out a bit more from the original and is a bit longer. Also I really like this chapter because I get to use words like moxy, pinkette and saccharine; you don't usually see those words in a story.<p>

I'll stop rambling now and get down to it. The way this story is going to work is pretty simple, it won't have the conventional chapters and will basically be a series of in order one shots, using the original chapter 15 as its guide. This story, in the way of structure, will be a lot like my story Marriage of Convenience; a Hiashi Hyuuga X Sakura story. So stick with me and we'll see how it'll turn out.


	2. I've Got a Friend in You

"No." Her voice was clear in her ears and she prayed that he took it and didn't pursue it. He didn't, he simply nodded and left.

It had been a relief and she had vanished back to her apartment. It was a one bedroom, with absolutely no personal touches, but why should it? She had been dropped in the past more than five months ago, with nothing but the torn clothes on her back and a lifetime of new nightmares to prevent. It had been the Shodai, reanimated from the belly of the death god, to send her back. She had been among the last ones living after the ten tails attacked. He had sent her back aiming for his time, before Izuna had died, with a set of keywords to use to gain his trust, in hope that they could prevent everything together, that he could share her burden. Sakura, her body abused to the fullest had managed a smile before another explosion had gone off and she had felt a sharp tug. She had woken in the undergrounds of Konoha, restrained, a young Sandaime staring at her. It had taken a month for the Yamanaka clan to go through her memories, for the Third to verify everything he had seen before admitting her once again to Konoha's ranks. She was tasked with the simple mission of stopping the future from becoming what it had become. Thus she had no time for anything personal.

She had already managed to save Sasori's parents, and she prayed that that alone would stop the puppeteer from turning to the Akastuki and perhaps even help foster relationships between their villages later on. Her next mission was to help save Dan. Once again she was put on a team with Sakumo Hatake, this time it was just the two of them and the man with the plan, as she liked to refer to him in her mind, was forced to fly blind. He went with it though without complaint, Sakura gave him that. He watched her back as she knocked the shinobi out of the way, yanking off the necklace around his neck as she went. Stuffing it into her flak vest's front pocket she went on the attack. The three of them were outnumbered twenty to three, but were able to hold on until Tsunade and her team arrived. Sakura remembered watching the last nin fall before everything went black.

When she woke up, it was on someone's back, who she quickly identifies as Sakumo by the long white hair in her face. Straightening just a bit she winced at the pain in her side. A moment later Sakumo's voice rang out "I wouldn't try moving, Tsunade was able to heal most of the damage but it's still probably tender and raw. You took some really bad hits; she seemed amazed that you had been able to keep fighting."

Sakura grunted she was tired, she hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in months; nightmares of the world she had come from preventing more than a few hours' sleep at a time. "Adrenaline does wonderful things."

Sakumo hmmed "She also seemed amazed by the small tattoo on your neck and the fact that many of your wounds had already begun healing themselves. Both of which were techniques that she developed and only she knows how to do, although I give you credit for having your seal in the form of a flower and it being on your neck. Care to explain."

"No."

"You seem to like that word."

"You seem to like plans."

Sakumo let out a warm, loud laugh, Sakura thought it was nice, and he began talking again "Fair enough. I like the people I'm responsible for, the people I care about, coming back alive. Researching and planning allows me greater chances of making those things happen."

Sakura smiled, "It's nice when those things happen, but sometimes you have to go with the flow."

"It'd be nice to know what was going on so I could plan accordingly."

"Yes," Sakura agreed "It would be, however that's classified information. Instead in exchange for your promise that you never ask about my past, I'll take you up on that date."

Sakumo stopped walking, and turned his head to look at her. "You're very confident for a pink haired woman."

She smiled "No, I just think that you're curious, that you think you can unravel the mystery by spending time with me. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Sakumo studied her for a moment before smiling himself, "All right you have a deal Pinkie."

Sakura scowled at the nickname before she was thrown forward as he began running. She didn't recognize her surroundings yet, which meant she had some more time to rest before they hit the village. Leaning her head back against Sakumo's back she closed her eyes and thought. Humans were social creatures; she needed interaction if she were to stay sane, and while she couldn't reveal her past to anyone, that didn't mean she couldn't make a friend or two. The date would lead to nothing, not to mention if she was Sakumo's friend that meant she might be able to save his future wife, she would get to watch Kakashi grow up, she could hopefully stop Sakumo from killing himself, and maybe just maybe it would mean Kakashi would never pick up that damn Icha Icha series.

So yes, Sakura could afford herself one friend. With that thought she allowed herself to drift back to sleep, mouthing the words to the prayer she had said every day since coming back home.

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><p>And so chapter 2 comes to a close. So I went back to Sakumo's wiki page on Narutopedia and it said he was a very humble man . . . so I think eventually Sakumo will evolve into that humbleness later on in this particular story. Right now he's young, he excellent at what he does and he's fighting in a war. So he has some time before he has to mature. I also like the banter exchanged between them and I do believe the nickname, Pinkie, may very well stick around. Let me know what you think. This over all story will probably be only about ten chapters, then I'll start something else. Maybe expand on the Fugaku chapter from the original 80 day challenge. Are there any other crackfic pairings you guys would like to see? let me know in the reviews or by PM!<p> 


	3. Daffodils and Puppies

Sakura and Sakumo's first date was not in any way traditional. They had made plans to go to the village's annual festival, though it would be smaller than previous years it was still being held to keep up morale. They had agreed he would pick her up from her apartment and they would spend the evening together. Sakura had gotten a little excited at the thought though she had tried to squash it; still she hadn't been to a festival in years, and it had been even longer since she had been on a date, so she had gotten a little dressed up. She had bought a new yukata, she did need one after all, and had done her hair nicely. He had picked her up at six on the dot, dressed in his own yukata a small smile on his face. He had offered her his arm and she had taken it. They had been walking for all of five minutes when an ANBU had dropped down in front of them ordering them to the Hokage's office. They had dutifully reported only to gain a smile and a mission from the Hokage.

They had quickly returned to their respective homes, changed and met at the gate. It was once again just the two of them, and Sakumo once again used their travel time to formulate his plan. Sakura was starting to sense a theme with the man. They stopped a few miles before their destination where he explained the plan, and she agreed. They were to stop a group of Kumo chunnin from breaching the perimeter; of course things very rarely went as planned in war. They arrived on the scene three days later to find the Hachibi's jinchuriki rampaging out of control. For a moment it had shocked Sakura, her memories of the tailed beast and its future host and she had gone to move forward only for Sakumo to stop her, his face clearly puzzled as to why she would even try. He didn't understand, very few people did. Jinchuriki were often hated, but she had grown up around one, her best friend almost brother had been one and during the war she had gotten to know Bee, and A for that matter. Both men had told her about the many trials the village had gone through trying to stop the Hachibi, about Fukai and his uncle and father. As she stared out at the field her eyes zeroed in on the two boys standing to the side watching, she recognized A almost immediately, even as a teenager, and next to him stood a boy preparing to be sealed, which she knew in her gut was Fukai. She quickly scanned the field again to see the former host lying dead on the ground and A's father trying to subdue the Hachibi with a squad.

She continued to watch, Sakumo's hand on her shoulder as a reminder to stay back. She watched as once again Gyuki was sealed, and without realizing stepped back into Sakumo's arms feeling helpless, knowing that this had to happen in order for Bee and Gyuki to team up. Once the sealing was complete, she felt Sakumo grasp her arm and lean down to whisper in her ear "They've lost too many men, their chakra's low and they can't risk continuing with a new jinchuriki, and we can't take out the Raikage or his son or they'll be no chance of peace. Our mission is done." Sakura nodded and turned to leave.

Sometime later he signaled for a stop and they dropped to the forest floor for a short break. For a while Sakumo was silent and then he asked a strange question, "What's your favorite flower."

She had looked at him confused for a second before answering "Daffodils."

He had smiled before asking another "Color?"

"Blue."

"Animal?"

"Dogs, I had a very good friend who had a pack of nin-ken. They were very loyal and I couldn't help but want one of my own."

Sakumo nodded before starting in on a story from his youth involving him and one of his father's own less than friendly summons, a cat. While Sakumo was telling the story Sakura would realize that he was trying to distract her, he knew that for whatever reason, witnessing what they had just seen had upset her and since he had promised not to ask about her past he had asked about trivial things in order to find something to distract her. It made her smile. That night as they took turns sleeping Sakura said her prayer again and couldn't help but think that it had turned out to be the best first date she had ever been on.

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><p>Chapter 3 is done! Yes! Next chapter will be up soon, most likely with a time skip . . . not sure yet. Leave a review and let me know what you think!<p> 


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